Re: Offline and IMAP

[Jochen_Hayek@ACM.org]

>>>>> "WH" == Wes Hardaker <wjhardaker@ucdavis.edu> writes:

>>>>> On 01 Oct 1998 21:36:36 +0200, Mikael MC Cardell <mc@hack.org> said:

    WH> My ideal case would be a imap server that allows me to specify
    WH> the location in which I want to place folders.

I don't want to seduce you to use something else than emacs/gnus,
but your view on IMAP might be different,
if you use Netscape Collabra or MS Outlook just a single time,
to operate on *any* IMAP server.

    WH> The UofW software opens every file in your home directory
    WH> looking for folders?

Not *in* but *under*,
exactly speaking the IMAP RFC deals with even *hierarchical* folders.
so basically e.g. in Netscape Collabra, you (can) specify a subdirectory
(e.g. iMail (note the difference!!!)),
that carries your mail folders.

Even nnimap (and any other tool, I think) allows / expects that subdirectory.

In the case of the UWASH thing, all folders besides from the INBOX
are (as you found) under your home directory, resp. in a subdir thereof.
But AFAIK there is no user accessable option to enforce that.
Further on that facility `user+emacs.ding@mail.address'
would even be quite risky for it (only for UWASH???),
because the (trustworthy) sender of a message decides into which mail folder
a message goes.

    WH> That's the impression I got by trying to run it
    WH> once and finally hitting C-g 10 minutes later.

That's just nnimap -- for whatever reason ...

Other tools access remote IMAP folder much faster.

    WH> Actually, I want procmail to deliver mail into my imap folders,
    WH> but I think this is a pipe-dream at this point...  sigh...

That's exactly where I also started -- but only `wishwise'.
My IMAP+web space provider does not support procmail for the cheap accounts,
as I have one.
So I was stuck.

But then I wrote a utility in python
doing something comparable to procmail,
i.e. moving messages but *on* the IMAP server from one folder to other folders
depending on an expression (using functions etc.).

I find it quite readable,
and I announced it on the fetchmail list,
because it borrows code&concept from {fetchmail,fetchmailconf},
the latter one also being written in python.
But without much response.

Oh, my utility sends the user's password unencrypted,
because it's too hard to do Kerberos under `python circumstances'.
.